ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan wants to promote regional peace and security by enhancing economic relations with its neighbours.
Talking to Afghan Finance Minister Dr Omar Zakhilwal on the sidelines of 39th Annual Board of Governors Meeting of Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Dar discussed progress on various issues of common interest between the two countries.
Adviser to Afghan Ministry of Finance Attaur Rehman Durrani and Aid Coordination Specialist Frough Kaifer accompanied the Afghan finance minister, while Consul General Aftab A Khokher, Consul Commercial Abdul Wahab Soomro and Sohail Ali Khan Press Consular assisted Pakistani Finance Minister.
Dr Zakhilwal updated Dar on his country’s point of view on CASA-1000 project and expressed his government’s willingness to resolve the issue of transit fee at the earliest. He said Afghanistan wanted early completion of the project as it would play an important role in promoting relations between the two countries and the region.
Emphasising on regional trade and economic cooperation, Dar said there was a lot of potential in enhancing trade between the two countries. He said that CASA-1000 project was important for regional integration and success of this project would pave the way for bigger projects like TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline.
Moreover, there was a possibility that success of the project may lead to its expansion in the future and allow an interrupted supply of electricity from Central Asian states, he said.
Meanwhile, a delegation of International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) led by its CEO Dr Waleed Al-Wohaib also met Dar on the sidelines of the meeting.
Wohaib said the ITFC was interested in enhancing its long-term trade partnership with Pakistan to achieve its economic targets.
Dar told the delegation that Pakistani government had adopted strategies to overcome the country’s macroeconomic challenges, and it was reforming the economic and financial sector.
The ITFC chief executive said his corporation was closely monitoring Pakistan and “it has no doubts that Pakistan has visibly shown improvement at all levels”.
The finance minister said Pakistan had fixed a GDP growth target of 4-5 per cent during the next financial year, taking it to 6-7pc in the medium term.
He said the country had embarked upon a major reform programme that aimed at fiscal stabilisation, mobilising domestic resources, phasing out subsides, restructuring the power sector and other public sector enterprises and strengthening the social safety nets.
The minister appreciated ITFC’s contribution towards economic development in Pakistan and hoped that the ITFC would increase its funding for projects here in the coming years.
